Bureaucrats Begin to Run Amok

Regulators from across the country, including New Mexico’s Insurance Superintendent Johnny Montoya, voted overwhelmingly this week to limit the amount of premiums health insurance companies can spend on administrative costs. Under the new federal health care law health insurers will be required to spend 80 percent – and in some cases 85 percent – of what they collect in premiums on medical costs, leaving only so much for administrative expenses. The move by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) effectively approved a proposal that prohibits health insurers from counting fraud prevention efforts and other investments as medical costs, a development that fueled the ire of health insurers who warned of dire consequences for health care consumers, according to published reports. Montoya defended Tuesday’s vote, saying, “There were some really smart people who put a lot of time and effort into this.” Read more here:

Bureaucrats Begin to Run Amok